Wasted Away with Chicago Dreams
by Xaphrin
Summary: Usagi is left alone and heartbroken in Chicago, years have past and she can't be the girl she once was... then Seiya appears and anger is all she feels... how did his life get to be so great? And how can he take away the hurt?


Konnichiwa, Minna-san! This a nice little one-shot to make me feel good about myself, so I hope you enjoy it! Have fun and remember: I don't own Sailor Moon. Ja!

            The faint hum of insects and echoes of the all too near interstate system traffic echoed quite audibly within the young woman's ears as she hung her slender body out the tiny window of her grungy Chicago apartment, just trying to catch a wisp of breeze on a still, dull, Illinois night. 

            But nothing came, not even the turn of a dehydrated leaf. Her long blonde hair stayed limp, and her body became coated with sweat, humidity, and dirt of the so-called 'Windy City'. 

            One may wonder exactly what one Tsukino Usagi was doing, so far from Japan, Tokyo, friends, and family. Not to mention alone and nearly sweating herself skinny from the heat. 

            How long had it been? Usagi fought to remember as she brought herself inside. She was twenty-one now, the true adult age for an American citizen, and she was a citizen… or so she hoped. Her green card would expire in a few years, and she would be forced to under-go either the rigorous education of an immigrant, or be shipped back to an empty and unforgiving 'home'. 

            But let's back track, as to why she was so worried about her green card. If she was twenty-one that meant she had been here for… five years? Yes, that seemed correct enough. So much had happened in those damned five years, more than an entire life for a normal human had happened. 

             Mamoru returned to her alive, yet wished to return to America to continue his education. Blinded by her pre-ordained destiny and all the fantasies that had transpired in her mind since she was fourteen, she followed like a dog. 

            Usagi's parents and friends pleaded with her not to go, telling her to wait until she was eighteen, finish school… then you can be whatever you want to be and do whatever you want to do. She left anyway… and her parents told her never to come home if she was to follow a sex-crazed twenty year-old boy. She was angry with them for such insults and not trusting her judgment. She was sixteen and perfectly able to take care of herself.

            Her life with Mamoru in America was fine… she wasn't much of a cook, and she _was_ a little annoying… and cleaning wasn't exactly her specialty. But it seemed that Mamoru loved her… and then they married as soon as Usagi turned eighteen. So Usagi received her green card, because Mamoru was already a citizen. They seemed happy as a married couple, at least in Usagi's eyes.

            Two months after the wedding, Mamoru left. 

            He told her that after two years of putting up with her whining, laziness, and inability to comply with his sexual demands, he had to leave her. It wasn't working out as Pluto had told them so falsely. 

            That was the day Usagi's future had crashed. Her destiny was shattered into a million puzzle-pieces that could never be righted. Where there had been light, was now dark… she was scared at the prospect of an empty slate. What would happen now? 

            She had little money and knew very little English: 'yes' 'no' 'please' 'thank you'… so on and so forth. She wasn't the brightest creature that had ever crawled the earth either. What could a helpless Japanese girl like her do? 

            Work at an oriental market in China-Town. 

            That's what had been paying her rent for this crummy apartment where everything, except the bathroom, was all crammed into a single room. She had little money to buy nice things, come to think of it, she had little money to buys _things_ period. 

             "Grocery shopping…" She grumbled. "I hate spending money…"

            It was odd to think that five years ago, she spent money as if it grew on trees. Now her spending was limited only to rent, bills, and groceries. 

            Getting up she looked around at her apartment. The walls were a yellow that reflected the color of aged urine, and her furniture was old, falling apart, and heavily embedded with stains and scents of nicotine. 

            "I hate my life…" She sighed deeply, pulling her hair up into its characteristic buns and ponytails. She was glad she didn't change that. 

             Grabbing her slender wallet and slipping on some shoes that badly needed replacing, she stepped out of the door and into the hallway. There was a loud racket coming from several on the rooms on her floor, each one in a different language. 

             Stepping down five fights of the fire-hazard stairs, she walked outside into the evening riddled with sounds that frightened her deeply. Gunshots rang distantly as she picked up her pace towards the store. 

            She hated coming out here this late, but her schedule refused to let her do otherwise. And she needed some things… especially since her period was probably due tomorrow. Such seemed her lot in life, to be utterly depressed and broke until the day she rolled over and died. 

            "Milk, bread, turkey meat, rice…" She ticked off certain things on her hand and mentally calculated the figures. It would be about twenty dollars. 

            It turned out to be nineteen eighty-seven. The turkey was on sale.

            Usagi was feeling elated about turkey that was on sale, and she couldn't help but almost skip back to her apartment. It was nice to save thirteen cents every now and then. 

            "Hey, miss… you looking for a good time tonight?" A voice asked from behind her. The faint wail of sirens sounded from the direction of where the gunshots had been only minutes before. Usagi wished they were right next to her… saving her.

            "No." She whispered, in her accented English. 

            'Just say no' was what Mamoru had always said. He gave good advice, even if he did take it himself. She began to tremble and continue to walk down the sidewalk. 

            The man laughed. "Ahh, you're not from around here, are ya?" 

            "No." Usagi had no idea what he was saying, and it frightened her deeply. 

            "I can help you around…" He followed her closely, Usagi hated this… she wanted to know what he was saying, she wanted to yell at him in perfect English and have him leave her alone. But she couldn't. She couldn't say anything except 'no'.

            "No."

             "You're definitely not submissive are ya, China-doll?" 

            "NO!" She took off at a run, but heard his footsteps close behind her. He grabbed her wrist and forced her to drop her precious groceries… the last of her money for the week… Tears entered her eyes both out of pain, and for the loss of the rice that was scattering across the side walk and down into a near-by drain. 

            She began to cry, spouting things in Japanese, trying to make this strange man understand that she did want him near her! That he had ruined twenty dollars of precious groceries! That her two-dollar milk was irreplaceable! But nothing seemed to work, all her words were in vain, because all he seemed to hear was a confused mull of strange words and sounds coming from her mouth, and he was indifferent to it all. 

            "If you could understand anything this poor girl was saying… it would be to leave her ALONE!" 

            From no where a fist came down on the man who held Usagi so tightly. Usagi fell to the ground, her knees finally giving way to the terror that made them weak. The man whom held the blonde captive looked at her then at the second man, and decided that Usagi wasn't worth the trouble. 

             Cradling his bruised cheek, he stalked off grumbling about foreigners and how America shouldn't let them in. 

             "Idiot…" The second man seethed… but he seethed it all in perfect Japanese!! Usagi blinked and looked at the man hidden by darkness.

            "Miss? Are you all right?" He stepped into the dingy, yellow, flickering streetlight.

            Usagi gasped as she looked at him more closely. The light shaded his face in strange ways, contorted those handsome lines that she had once envied… but she knew the eyes. The eyes were the one thing that seemed unchanging and infinitely beautiful… and Usagi knew them well enough to tremble with fear and helplessness. 

            "O… Odango?" He whispered, his tongue tripping over the word. He had begged himself not to say the word for such a long time, now his mouth didn't seem to take to the name as it once had… 

             "Seiya… I…I…" She suddenly lost her voice, not wanting to say any more to her savior. It was all too embarrassing. 

            Here she was dressed in dirty clothes, covered in the stench of a windless city summer, and utterly humiliated at crying over her groceries… she never wanted anybody she knew to see her like this: helpless. 

            "I… I thought you were in Tokyo…" He said, bending down to sit on the pavement with her. "Or did you follow Mamoru here?"

            She nodded, unable to look at him, let alone speak. 

            "Oh… and how is your… mm, marriage…?" It was as if it pained him to speak that word, little did he know it pained Usagi more to hear it. 

            She turned away from him even more, suddenly very interested in salvaging her groceries that seemed unsalvageable. 

             "Usagi?" He questioned, trying to look into her eyes. 

             "Mamoru's… not here any more…" Usagi said softly. 

            "Oh. Did he… pass away?" Seiya thought that's what her tone meant, but he seemed highly off target. 

            "Iie… he… left." Usagi picked up her bread, and a bag of carrots. Those were the only things that could be saved… how was she supposed to survive on bread and carrots?

            "When is he coming back?" Seiya, you're such a dolt!

             "He's… not…" Usagi looked down at her wedding finger. She'd given her ring back to him before he left… if only she had kept it. Maybe she could have gotten some money out of it.

            "Oh my! I'm so stupid, Usagi!" Yep, Seiya. You _are_ stupid. "I shouldn't have said anything… are you alright? Can I do anything?"

            Usagi looked up at his worried face and forced a small smile. "Iie, Seiya… I'm fine… I need to get home now…" She stood up. "It was nice to see you." She bowed and walked past Seiya, heading towards her apartment. 

            "'Nice to see you'?" He asked in wonderment. After all this time… 'nice to see you'?

            "Oi!!" Seiya quickly turned and chased after her. She looked up at him with deep surprise. "'Nice to see you'!? That's what you say after five and a half years!? After bumping into me where there are several billion other people to bump into! 'Nice to see you'! Damnit Usagi, aren't I your friend!?"

            Usagi took a step back, then looked away, her shoulders trembling with the weight of unshed tears, and the pain of unresolved emotions. "I don't have any friends…"

            "Says who?" Seiya growled.

            She looked up at him, suddenly very angry for bringing back all those horrible memories, and very angry for butting into a life she wanted to leave behind. "They all disowned me! My parents, My friends! Everyone! All because I chose to follow Mamo-baka! So why don't you Seiya!? Why don't you disown me too!? It seems to be the trend!"

            Seiya blinked in surprise. So that's what it was… how could they have done what they did? It was her choice to follow Mamoru, no matter how stupid it may have been, and it wasn't as if _they never made mistakes. _

            He reached out and smoothed her hair, then pulled her into a deep embrace. "We all make mistakes, Usagi… you can't disown someone for being human."

            "They did…" Usagi whispered, her body now trembling with sadness.

            "Well, I'm not them." He nuzzled his nose into her hair and breathed in deep. He'd forgotten how much Usagi calmed him, how good she made him feel…

            "I just… I just want to return to my old life…" Tears ran down her face as she held on to him for dear life. She had been alone for three years of her life, and now to have some one stand there and comfort her, tell her that they still cared about her… It brought her to her knees with both gratitude and relief. 

            "… not sit here and cry about it. But… there's nothing I can do. I'm stuck here, in America, where I speak no English, I work at a crappy job, and I cry, not because I could have been raped, but because twenty dollars worth of groceries has been destroyed. I'm so pathetic…"

            Seiya pulled away a little, then brushed her tears off her cheeks. "I don't think you're pathetic… I think you're still the most beautiful person, inside and out, that I've ever met."

            Usagi's cheeks flared, and she ducked her head a little to hide her newfound blush. "Anou… a-arigatou, Seiya-kun."

            She hadn't felt this way in such a long time. She had forgotten how much her heart danced when he was around, how red her cheeks got when he complemented her, and how much her body trembled when he touched her. How long had she felt this way towards him? How many times had he done this before, and she just brushed him off? Was it because of her blind love for Mamoru? It felt nice to have someone pay attention to her, in a nice way too.

            "Tell you what, I'll take you shopping to go get some more groceries after all, it was kind of my fault that your bag broke." He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled down at the blonde. 

            "It wasn't, Seiya… and you know it. I'll survive…" Usagi blushed. 

            "Come one, Usagi-san. You can't survive on bread and carrots, you know that."

            "I'll be fine…" She looked helplessly at the carrots.

            "But, Usagi… you don't even _like carrots," Seiya stated matter-of-factly._

            She blushed even deeper. "I've lived for three years without help, Seiya… one more week won't matter. Besides… I don't want to trouble you."

            Seiya hooked his finger under her chin and brought her eyes up to his. "Maybe it's time you have some help, Usagi… I think you need it…"

            Usagi blushed again and pulled away. "Gomen-nasai… I don't want to bother you." 

             "Odango…" Seiya sighed exasperatedly. "You _aren't_ bothering me. You're my best friend, and I love you for that. Nothing you could do or say would _bother_ me."

            Usagi took a step back, her breath caught in her chest. Had he said…?

            No! It wasn't possible… he couldn't have just said he loved her, could he have? 

            'Just ignore it, Usagi!' She told herself. 'I'm sure he didn't mean it like _that_.'

             "Seiya… I still feel like I am…" She whispered.

            "If that's the case…" Seiya smiled that infamous smile of his. "Then why don't I take you home with me? I'll even treat you to a rare sight: me making dinner."

            Usagi giggled. "Should I be scared?"

            Seiya shrugged. "Probably." 

            "Mm… your confidence is astounding." 

            He took her hand. "Come on, Usagi… one night won't hurt you."

            Usagi blushed. Looking at their hands, intertwined… fitting together as one, like a piece of glass that had shattered, but had finally found it's last mate. It was beautiful in so many aspects, it made Usagi weak at the knees to think of it any more. 

            "Come on…" He took her hand even tighter before she had a chance to refuse, then lead her along the streets. Finally he stopped in front of a very nice looking, red Mercedes. 

             "Anou… is this your car?" 

            "Hm?" He looked at her, then at the car. "Yeah. I'm thinking about trading it in and getting an Aston Martin… I'm not sure." He pressed a button on his key ring and the car honked, then unlocked the doors. "Climb on in, Odango."

            She stood in front of her door, and watched Seiya as he walked around to the driver's side. She couldn't get into this car… she would make it dirty. She was just a homely, low-class girl. How did she have the right to get into such and nice and expensive car? 

            "Usagi? What's wrong?" Seiya asked, looking at her curiously. 

            "I… I can't…" She backed away from the car. "Seiya, I'm filthy, I'm lowly… I don't have the right."

            Seiya looked at her for a long moment, then laughed heartily. "Odango… that's the most absurd thing I've ever heard you say! Climb on it… don't worry about it. I don't think you're dirty."

            She blushed then slowly grabbed the handle and opened the door. Stooping down low, she got into the little two-door. 

            "See?" Seiya asked as he started the car. "Was that so hard?"

            As the engine purred to life, the radio came on playing a CD that Seiya had left in his player. Usagi just looked around at all the nice things that he had in the car and felt very out of place. 

             "Anou… Seiya-kun?" She asked nervously, looking down at the floor.

            "Hai, Odango-chan?" He asked playfully.

            "Um… what have you been doing these last five years?" She asked softly.

            "Not much. I came back from Kinmoku about four years ago. I wanted to go looking for you in Tokyo, but something… inside, told me not to… so I made a nice little living in America." He merged onto the interstate. 

            "Oh… what do you do?" 

            "I design clothes."

            Usagi gave a start and looked over at him in surprise. "Really?"

            "Mm-hm, I started the label SayKay."

            "Y… _you're SayKay!?"_

            Seiya laughed. "Don't look so surprised, Odango. I _was _always the best dressed out of the three." He noted jokingly.

              "But…" Usagi slumped down in her seat. 

            Seiya took her hand for a moment. "But what, Odango? It doesn't mean that I'm any different. I still love to sing, I still like hamburgers, and I'm still head over heels in love with you." 

            Usagi's cheeks flushed a deep red. "Anou…" 

            How could he say that!? Like… like… like nothing had changed! Like she was still the same Usagi she had been when she was sixteen. Life had treated her much different then it had treated him, so why was he rubbing it in her face that he had everything and more… and she was dirt poor!

            On the other hand… having someone say that they loved her again was… so wonderful. It made her feel like she was worth something; like she was a real person, and not just some insignificant body on this planet. 

            "I'm sorry, Usagi… I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable…" Seiya said after a moment. "I know you must be hurt by the hand that fate had dealt you… but… no matter what… I'm still in love with you." 

            "I'm flattered, Seiya…" She whispered.

             "Mm…" Seiya smiled, then exited the highway and headed for some very nice looking lofts near the lake. Usagi suddenly felt very small compared to the tall buildings that loomed around her body. 

            "This is where you live?" She asked, amazed at the quality of the apartments.

             "Mm…" He punched in the code next to the front door, and it opened without a hitch. "Well… this is where I live when I'm in America." He looked a little sheepish. He didn't want to rub it in her face that he was very well off, and she was scrounging for every cent she could. 

            "Where else do you live!?" She exclaimed, as he led her to the elevator. 

            "Paris, Tokyo, Milan… I rent a loft in New York every so often, but only during show season. But I like to live here the best. I like the view of the lake from my window." The doors opened with a ding and Usagi had to force her body to move. How could he just be so calm about everything! About that fact that he could be one of the richest people in the world! He was just… ARG! What did he do to deserve this!? Or better yet, what did Usagi do to deserve what _she_ had?

            "Come on in, Odango." He joked, giving her a push into his loft. 

            Usagi couldn't move. It was HUGE! It was messy… but it was huge! Floor-to-ceiling windows lined the far wall, giving a stunning view of the lake… Usagi now understood why he liked this place the best. She looked around at everything, into the kitchen, up the stairs to the open platform where his bed was, completely unmade. 

            "Have a seat, Odango… You're beginning to look like a floor ornament." Seiya teased as he pushed her farther into the giant space. 

            "Oh…" She blushed and made her way to the couch. His couch was tan, Italian leather, and the coffee table in front of it was littered with sketches of clothes, magazines, books, and…

            Usagi picked up a loose picture of Seiya, Yaten, and Taiki. It was taken back when they were on earth… all those years ago. They looked so happy in this picture, but Usagi knew that it was just a façade. They were truly worried about their princess, about their world, and about the threat of Galaxia. 

            She wondered what their troubles were like now… if rebuilding their world was harder then they previously had thought. Or if rebuilding their world had gone better then they thought, would they be married now? In love? Bearing children? Making children?

             "Usagi?" 

            Usagi gave a start and looked up at Seiya. She blushed and put the picture down.

             "Sorry… I didn't mean to intrude…" 

            Seiya looked at her, then the picture, then smiled. "You're not intruding…" He placed a mug of tea in front of her.

             "How… how are they?" Usagi questioned as Seiya sat next to her. 

            His face looked strained for a moment, then smiled at her slowly. "Oh… they're doing well…"

            "Do you miss them?"

            There was a long awkward silence. "No… they lead their own lives now… I'm glad for that." 

            Usagi felt as though there were something more in his words. A subliminal cry for help that she should answer… 

            But she didn't. Why should she? He wasn't the only one suffering… Usagi had more then her fair share of the 'Real World' and it didn't like any one who wasn't American and spoke perfect mid-western English. He'd done wonderful and she was still lowly, so why should she be submissive to his plea for help? What would it prove?

            "Oh…" She picked up her mug of tea and sipped it. 

             "Usagi…" Seiya said setting his tea down, then moving his hands to push hair out of her eyes. "You seem… distracted, almost. Are you, all right?" 

            Usagi moved away from his soft, warm hands and looked harshly at him, resentment stinging her eyes. "I'm fine." 

            Seiya took her mug from her and set it down, then moved closer to her, watching with deep sadness as she inched away from him. His face looked dumbfounded for a moment as he stared into her angry, blue eyes.

             "Usagi?" He questioned. 

             "Hmph…" Usagi turned away, suddenly very angry with Seiya for no apparent reason, at least not to him. Usagi was filled with spite for her once-friend… he had everything! She had nothing!!

            There was a long moment of awkward silence. "Hey, Usagi!" Seiya said finally to break the looming iceberg. She looked up at him with skeptical eyes.

             "What?" 

            Seiya stood up and offered her his hand. "I've got something I've been working on. I want you see it," He said with great delight. 

            Usagi looked at his hand, his smiling face, then his hand again. "All right…" She sighed deeply. Putting her hand in his, she allowed herself to be helped to her feet.

            Seiya smiled happily at her. "Usagi… you don't understand how important to me finding you is…" He stroked her hand softly with his thumbs. "You… you were… _are_ everything that I've been looking for. And… well… to see you again is to make me wish I never left."

            Usagi looked up at him, then at the ground. She felt remorse for what she had thought before, for how she had acted, and what she had said. It was horrible that they had ended up in such different places, but it was even worse when Usagi thought things like she did. It wasn't his fault… so why was she blaming him?

            "Come on…" He led her into another room, off the main room. This one was smaller, but still large in size, and contained a hoard of fabrics, racks of clothing, sketches and a sewing machine that looked as though it were easily worth two years of rent for her apartment. 

            "I keep it here…" He began digging through the racks, looking around for something. Usagi stood in the middle of the room, shocked by everything that surrounded her. _Why? Why him, and not her?_

            "Ahhh-ha!" Seiya exclaimed, startling Usagi. He pulled out a garment bag from the back rack. He unzipped it and pulled it out. Then, smiling brightly and proudly, he turned and showed her the garment.

            "Oh… my…" Usagi took a step back, tears in her eyes.

            "I made this… a few years ago…" Seiya whispered softly, looking at it, then at Usagi. "I was hoping one day I'd be able to find you again… and you could wear it…"

            It was a dress that he was holding. But it was no ordinary dress… it was an exact replica of the dress she was _supposed to be wearing now… the royal garb of Neo-Queen Serenity. It was perfect, down to the very last seam and fold of the fabric… so finely crafted… and easily worth thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars. _

            Tears suddenly rolled down her cheeks freely. She looked at him, then at the dress in his hands, and finally she turned and began to walk away. 

            "Usagi! Matte!" Seiya called after her. Setting the dress down and chasing after her. She was already in the great room again when he caught up with her. 

            "What is it? Did I do something wrong?" He asked innocently,

            "I'm going home." Usagi headed for the door, but Seiya grabbed her arm. 

             "Odango-chan… what's wrong? Are you okay?" He asked, pleading with her to say something. She'd been so cold…

             SMACK!

             Obviously she _wasn't okay, seeing as she had just slapped our adorable Sei-chan across the face… and rather harshly too._

            "NO! I'm not okay! And you know what, Seiya-baka!? I'm _fine_ with not being okay! So leave me the _hell_ alone!" She headed for the door, hot tears streaming down her face. She was filled with utter spite towards Seiya, spite and anger… and jealousy.

            Seiya grabbed her again, desperately wanting to find out what was wrong with her. Why was she so angry? What had Seiya done to make her so?

            "Matte, Usagi-san!" 

            "No!" The blonde turned to him, seething. "I hate you Seiya! I hate you, and your fabulous life, and all the other pretty girls who you date. Look at you and then look at me! We were both the same people… we took similar paths… god, I HATE YOU!!" Usagi's voice echoed through the large loft, and for the first time, she realized how odd her voice sounded when she said the word 'hate' to a person. 

            "I've never dated, Usagi-san. And don't pin your frustrations on me. I didn't take paths that lay out for me. You can only see so far down the road that's already there…" He glared at her for a moment, then his expression softened… then saddened. "But you know it will always be a bumpy ride if you make your own road." 

            Usagi turned away, tears still flowing freely down her face. "Why… why did fate give you such a nice life? Why did I have to end up living in some piece of crap apartment in the ghetto of Chicago, scraping my way through life… while you sit here in your gorgeous loft and drink fifty year old wine!?" 

            "I don't take paths, Usagi. I make them. I know life has dealt you a shoddy hand… I know your life isn't what you want it to be. My life wasn't so easy either." Seiya said softly, feeling hurt resurface at all of the painful memories he wanted to destroy.

            "Oh!? Your husband left you two weeks after you got married!? Your friends disowned you for one lousy mistake!? You're stuck in the ghetto too!?" She spat at him in utter contempt.

            "If you must know, Usagi-san. Yes." Seiya whispered spitefully at the ground. He looked up and locked cold, angry eyes with her. "My princess released me for lack of mental loyalty, due to that Taiki and Yaten wanted nothing to do with me. I was then exiled from my planet, and forced to live for a year on the streets. My life wasn't a basket of roses, Usagi. You aren't the only one who's faced hardships. I chose to do something about it though." 

            Usagi took a step back, eyes going wide at what he had just told her. Had that really happened? Had the only family that Seiya had ever known… really disowned him? She looked down, suddenly sheepish… he was right. She'd grown into the idea that she was forever forced to into a living hell because of what happened to her. But Seiya had gone through the same hell and survived, because he had made choices. He had made paths… and Usagi could only see what was laid in front of her. All she saw was a barren wasteland… but some where there had to be an oasis.

            Maybe it was time she took a better look of what was around her… maybe that oasis was closer then she thought.

            "I'm sorry… I really am… I just… I don't know what to do." Usagi slid to the floor and cried. She sobbed deeply into her hands for a while, Seiya watched in anger, then shock and finally he broke down and felt tears falling down his own face.

            "Oi…" He whispered, being down and scooping her up in his arms, then carrying her to the couch. "Listen, Usagi… things will be alright. You know you can do whatever you want to do… you just have to give it a little bit of your own power." 

            He tapped her on the nose, then wiped her tears away. "Don't cry…"

            "I'm sorry Seiya…" Usagi whispered into his chest. She leaned up towards him and blushed as he saw the tears roll down his cheeks. "I caused you so much pain…"

            Seiya smiled weakly. "You did…" He whispered in a teasing tone. "It's your fault I didn't have 'mental loyalty'."

            Usagi blinked, taken aback by his words. "Nani?" Then it registered and her cheeks flushed instantly. "Anou… gomen…"

            "It's okay, Usagi…" He pulled her tightly into his embrace. "You're worth it… you're worth everything to me…"

            Usagi blushed again, and after a moment of silence, she stood up and bowed to her host. "I've caused you too much trouble, Seiya… perhaps I should leave." 

            Seiya reached out and grabbed her hand. "Usagi?" 

            She looked at him innocently. "Hai?"

            "I'm… uh… anou…" He stuttered for a moment then turned away. "I'm out all day, usually… and it would make me feel better if I had a house sitter… I mean… I could pay you… and you could live here…"

            Usagi took a step back, her breath caught in her chest. "Seiya?"

            Seiya blushed as nervously locked eyes with her again. "What I'm trying to say is…" There was a long pause. "I'm tired of being alone… I… I want some one to be with me…"

            Usagi's cheeks flushed, still unable to breathe. "But I can't cook… and-"

            "I don't care." Seiya interjected firmly. "I can't cook either… Usagi, I love you… I left you once, because it was my duty… I'll die if I have to leave you again…" 

            She stepped forward and grasped both his hands with hers. "I think I would too…" She whispered finally.

            And as the tears ran down their faces, they knew that although hardships could come and go as they pleased… they would have each other now, and they were ready to begin making a new path of their own. 


End file.
